I'm sure that if you ask any person who's been cooking for a while "What's one thing you wish you would have known about cooking when you were just starting?" they would be able to come up with a whole bunch of things.
When starting out, we've all made the silliest mistakes. *cough cough* like putting tin foil in the microwave and watching it explode.
Okay, maybe our mistakes aren't that bad, but we all definitely make mistakes when first starting out.
Ninth Recipes wants to make you a better cook, so…
…we're going to teach you a bunch of tips that we wished we would have known when we first started cooking.
Let's look at 15 tips that we can use to make us better cooks.
But first!
Always make sure you wash your hands before cooking anything. Keep your food tasting fresh!
The most important tool in the kitchen is a sharp knife
Nothing is worse than a dull knife.
Imagine trying to cut a beautiful tomato slice only to succeed in turning it into mush because your knife was too dull to cut through. A tomato is mush because of this. MUSH!
All knives, no matter how good, are going to get dull over time.
To knock this out before it becomes a problem you should always have a whetstone available.
That way, when you're preparing a meal and you can feel your knife becoming a little dull, you can sharpen it afterward during clean up.
But why is it good to have a sharp knife?
A sharp knife will cut right through vegetables, herbs, or meat making prepping meals a lot faster and easier.
On top of that, sharp knives are much safer since you have more control over where the blade is going. It'll be a clean cut rather than potentially slipping around with a dull knife.
Cook slow, heat low
This little saying has probably helped me out hundreds of times.
Sometimes we get a little impatient with what we are cooking and turn the heat all the way up just to get it done and in our bellies faster.
However, patience is actually key here.
Turning up the burner can and will eventually burn the food.
Cooking with lower heat helps preserve flavor, so that your dishes always have the best taste possible.
Place a wet paper towel under your cutting board.
I just started using this tip a few months ago, but I definitely wish I would have used this when I first started.
Maybe my cutting board is just janky.
This helps prevent the cutting board from slipping around while you're using it.
Not only will this make it safer for yourself when preparing food, but also makes your cuts a lot cleaner.
Cooking times shouldn’t be set in stone
Everyone's stove and oven are different.
One great tip to follow in the kitchen is to always set your timer a few minutes before it's supposed to be done.
For example, if your recipe says 10 minutes in the oven, set your timer for 7 or 8 minutes.
Then, check your food and use your own senses, like sight, taste, smell, and touch) to decide when it's done.
Obviously, it is important to make sure your food is fully cooked before eating, so if it's not done you can put it back on the heat for a few minutes.
Then repeat those steps until it's done!
You can always keep something cooking if it's not done yet, but you can't unburn a dish because you left it in for too long.
Clean as you go
Our final tip today is something that'll make your life a lot easier if you follow it.
There's something annoying about eating an amazing meal that you just whipped up only to have to spend a bunch of time afterward cleaning the kitchen instead of getting to be full and lazy.
Throw packages away, put utensils in the sink or dishwasher, lick the spoon, wipe stuff down.
If your dish takes 15 minutes to cook you can spend some of this time cleaning up the kitchen.
Don't let your dish burn, of course, but you can multitask to make life a little easier.
You'll thank yourself after dinner.
Read through the entire recipe before you start doing anything else
This tip seems like it should be common sense, but there are many people who don’t read the recipe beforehand.
Don’t be one of those people! Yes, we’re yelling… to help you!
It’s always a great idea to be prepared, so reading the recipe once, twice, or even three times before even getting the ingredients out can make your life in the kitchen significantly easier.
Plus, this will help you understand what ingredients you need and where they will be used in the recipes.
Now, you can get out all of your ingredients and the tools you need to measure them.
Put the finishing touches on your workspace, tools, utensils, apron, and BAM! you’re ready to start.
This should only take about 5 minutes, but it can save you a ton of time and headache when it finally comes time to make the meal.
Try not to improvise too much
If you’re just starting out in the kitchen it’s always wise to follow the recipe exactly.
Changing up the recipe sounds like a great idea, but when you’re a young grasshopper who doesn’t have much experience, it might not be a great idea.
The reason to stick with the recipe is because you know what the final product is supposed to look like. It’s easy to compare and see what might have happened to fix next time.
While you’re working on your recipe, you can make notes on what you’d like to change when you go to make the recipe again.
Of course, if you know you don’t like a food that’s being called for in the recipe, you don’t have to add it.
Once you get the hang of things around the kitchen, you can be a little more adventurous and tweak recipes to your liking.
One thing you definitely want to avoid, even if you're skilled, is changing up recipes when it comes to baking. Baking is an exact science. Changing something, no matter how tiny, can make your cookies look like plop.
Same thing applies with baking as with other recipes. If you dont like an ingredient, like nuts, chocolate chips, certain fruits, you can leave them out without ruining the dish.
Anyway, if you take anything away from this, it should be to always measure when baking.
Use measuring tools that make sense
By this we mean don’t just pour your one cup of sugar in a spoonful at a time and call it a day.
Make sure you actually pull out your measuring cups to do your dirty work.
One great tool that makes life in the kitchen wayyyy simpler is a baking scale.
You can invest in a really great baking scale here on Amazon. Baking scales make measuring out food a lot easier and a lot more accurate.
Remember when we said baking was a science?
This will make sure that you’ve got all the correct measurements so that nothing blows up.
The last thing you want to be doing is cleaning batter off of the ceiling.
Always turn your pan handles to the side
I had a friend in high school that had a really nasty burn down his entire right side on his back.
He told me the story of how he got it.
When he was 4 years old, his mom was boiling noodles to make spaghetti, with the pan handle out over the edge of the stove.
Being curious as most 4 year olds are, he reached for the pan handle only to pour extremely hot water all over himself.
If his mom would have had the pan handle turned to the side, he may have not been able to reach it.
Luckily, he is alive and well.
Not only does turning the handle to the side prevent someone from pouring boiling water all over themselves, it also prevents the handle from getting caught on things or accidently bumped.
Sometimes the kitchen can be very fast paced and you might not be fully paying attention to your surroundings.
Being proactive and preventing a problem before it happens is one way to make life in the kitchen better.
Add seasonings during the cooking process
Have you ever gotten to the end of cooking a dish only for it to taste super bland?
And then the only way to save it is by salting the ever living smoosh out of it?
Yeah, we’ve been there too.
Salt does make your food taste better, so don’t be afraid to use it. Just don’t overdo it.
The best way to fix this is to add seasoning along the way. Make sure you taste as you go and just add a little at a time.
That way if it tastes bland halfway through you can fix it right away.
The best salt to cook with is kosher salt and the best salt to season with is sea salt.
Oh, and here’s a free bonus tip! If you have oversalted your food, you can use a chunk of potato to help absorb the extra salt.
Always taste your dishes before serving
This seems like one of those tips that doesn’t need to be said, but may save you someday.
Bobby Flay, one of my favorite chefs, said “If you’re not tasting, you’re not cooking!”
If you don’t taste your food before serving it, how are you supposed to know if it’s properly seasoned or even tastes good?
Tasting your food before you serve it allows you to adjust the dish as you make it.
If you’re worried about safety, you can always put the tasting utensil in the sink after using it.
Although, at home you might not want to be washing a million spoons all the time. Mythbusters did bust the double dipping myth, and unless you’re sick it won’t be a concern.
So, taste all you want to make sure that your dishes are amazing!
Be sure your spices aren’t stored near heat or lights
That’s right, spices are scared of the heat, and lights, and well, humidity, too.
Herbs and spices are known to lose their flavor if they are exposed to too much.
So don’t store your spices in a jar above the stove.
The best place to store your spices is in a dry, dark area where the temperature won’t fluctuate much.
Using an airtight container would also be useful.
Your fresh herbs can be stored in the refrigerator in a glass of water.
But, how can we tell if our spices have turned to garbage?
Using your sense of sight and smell, of course!
If they no longer look fresh or have a very distinct smell, it may be time to throw them away.
Remember, ground herbs and spices are going to deteriorate faster than whole spices because they have much more surface area exposed to the air.
Never leave the kitchen while you’re cooking
This, again, feels like one of those tips that probably doesn’t have to be said, but we’ll remind you anyway.
How can you make sure your food is being cooked properly if you aren’t there to pay attention to it?
On top of that, it’s unsafe to leave your stove on when you’re not in the room.
Many people, including myself, still have gas ranges that have an open flame.
If there’s a fire and you’re not there to immediately take care of it, then it can get out of control quickly.
According to the FDNY, unattended cooking accounts for a third of home fires.
Other tips the FDNY recommends are establishing a three-foot “kid-free zone”, keeping your area clear of flammable objects like paper towels, and to keep your equipment and appliances clean.
We like to think firefighters know what they are talking about when it comes to fire.
Don't crack egg shells over the bowl
I’ve made this mistake a hundred times before I figured out that cracking an egg over the bowl is a bad idea. Hey, some people take a little time to learn.
I’ve had to fish so many egg shells out with a spoon because the tiniest pieces fall in.
The best way to crack an egg is to do it on a flat surface and slowly pull the shells apart.
If any shells do get into the bowl, try to get them out as soon as you can before they get lost and become one with the dish.
I don’t think the recipe calls for egg shells.
Lemons can bring any bland food to life
Lemons may seem like a fruit that can only be mixed with sugar and chugged on a hot sunny day, but are otherwise pretty lame.
Well, that’s not right at all!
They can be just as important as salt when cooking.
Lemons make your mouth water and will bring out the flavor in your dishes.
Squeezing a little bit of lemon juice can cut grease and give your dish a fresh taste.
The acidity helps break down carbs, fats, and protein, which is perfect for something like tenderizing meat.
Lemon juice can also be used to prevent butter from over-browning when cooking.
But the best thing about lemons?
Lemon zest.
The lemon oil in the zest will add flavor, but it won’t add the liquid, making it useful for something like pie crust or pasta.
You can never have enough lemon zest!
Use these tips to make yourself better in the kitchen
With these cooking tips on your side there’s nothing that can stop you in the kitchen!
Start with just one and keep adding others until they become habits. Celebrate your wins in the kitchen.
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See you next time!
